Annex 2
Statement by a representative ofUNEP/GEF

On behalf of UNEP and the GEF, I am very pleased to welcome you all to this first meeting in the PDF B phase of the project on developing a Land Degradation Assessment for Drylands.

As you are aware, the development of a global land degradation assessment is a very timely endeavor, as land degradation is expected to get full status as a GEF focal area after the meeting of the GEF Assembly in Beijing in October this year. This welcome development is also expected to lead to the allocation of additional GEF resources to land degradation in the order of US$250 million.

A Note on the Designation of land degradation as a GEF focal area was adopted at the GEF Council meeting in December 2001, and this Note identifies two priorities for land degradation in the GEF:

• The first is capacity building for sustainable land management that would focus on integrating the different planning frameworks under the different conventions, which include the National Action Programmes of the CCD, National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans of the CBD and National Communications to the FCCC.
• The second priority area would be to support on-the-ground investments in sustainable land management.

There is therefore a need to assess the global environmental dimensions of land degradation and desertification, such as impacts on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems as well as the atmosphere and to operationalise the linkages between land degradation, biodiversity loss, climate change and livelihoods in drylands, and we expect the LADA project to assist the GEF in doing this.

Other needs and challenges that we are facing in developing LADA include:

1. Need for baseline data and valid indicators of land degradation in drylands that could be used in monitoring and evaluation of impacts of field projects;
2. Linking of field-level indicators of land degradation in drylands to remote sensing and global assessments of land cover;
3. Capacity building in land degradation monitoring and assessment at national level;
4. The need to create a monitoring system that will continue to function beyond the completion of the GEF funding to LADA; and
5. Partnership building and resource mobilisation for non-GEF eligible components of LADA.

UNEP will ensure that LADA will complement and work in synergy with the other global environmental assessments that we are implementing, which include:

• The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment - MEA
• The Global International Waters Assessment - GIWA
• The Solar and wind energy resource assessment, and
• The Regionally based assessment of POPS.

Moreover, UNEP’s GEF portfolio of land degradation projects will, in addition, offer experiences on designing land degradation indicators and on the interlinkages between land degradation and biodiversity loss in drylands. UNEP is also committed to capacity building at national level in management of environmental information and we have recently embarked up on a special capacity-building initiative for Africa in this regard.

It is my hope that this first meeting of the LADA Steering Committee will be able to address the needs and challenges I have highlighted and that we can devise strategies so as these challenges are reflected in the design of the full LADA project. I also hope that the development of the LADA project will be finalised within the anticipated time frame of two years, as there is an urgent need for accurate information of the extent and impacts of land degradation in drylands in order to assist the affected populations in designing appropriate interventions that will ensure the sustainability of livelihoods in these environments.

Thank you for your attention.